San Francisco Props B, E and F: Expanding police powers, setting requirements for substance abuse

SAN FRANCISCO - San Franciscans are being asked on March 5 to vote on two controversial propositions that would expand police powers and set requirements for people who have substance abuse problems if they want cash assistance from the city.

Props E and F are supported by Mayor London Breed and opposed by more left-leaning groups who feel these ideas repeal years of progressive reforms. Prop B is supported by Supervisors Ahsha Safai and Aaron Peskin and opposed by Breed, among others. 

Here's a look at what Props B, E and F would do, and the reasons people are supporting and opposing them. 

What is Prop B?

Prop. B would set a new minimum staffing level for the San Francisco Police Department that increases every year for five years. It would also require voters to approve a new tax or amend a tax that’s already on the books. 

Who supports Prop B and why? 

Supervisors Ahsha Safai and Aaron Peskin and labor groups such as SEIU Local 1021 say it's a fiscally responsible way to respond to San Francisco's police staffing shortage. As of September 2023, there were 1,578 sworn police officers – about 400 shy of historical staffing levels. And there are currently 300 fully funded positions that are open. 

Who opposes Prop B and why? 

Supervisor Matt Dorsey and Mayor London Breed call Prop B a "cop tax" that San Francisco doesn't need because it can already afford to raise police staffing using its existing $14.6 billion annual budget. Dorsey called the proposition a "confusing mess of political gamesmenship." 

In addition, Neighbors for a Better San Francisco, a group backed by the billionaire Bill Oberndorf and other wealthy donors, are trying to defeat Prop. B.

What is Prop E?

Overall, Prop E would give the San Francisco Police Department a lot more power and less oversight in several areas. 

Prop. E would reduce reporting requirements when police use force, letting body camera footage replace written reports for certain kinds of incidents; it would allow police to install surveillance cameras without oversight and use drones with facial recognition technology; it would permit police to initiate car chases when they suspect someone has committed certain types of misdemeanors, and it would give the police chief the ability to require public meetings at all 10 police stations before the Police Commission can change department policies.

Who supports Prop E and why? 

Mayor London Breed, the San Francisco Police Officers Association, and the Committee for a Safer San Francisco, signed by members Ronald Conway and Chris Larson. 

Safer San Francisco argues that crime is rising and that San Francisco police need help in doing their jobs, such as increasing technology and doing away with bureaucratic red tape. 

According to the official ballot language, Prop E puts police officers "in the best position to serve" by giving them the tolls "they need to endorse laws, while preventing the Police Commission from interfering in community safety efforts."

Prop E, according to supporters, eliminates "duplicative reporting requirements," reducing the amount of time officers are behind a desk and can get them "back out on the street."

In most cases, proponents say, body cameras can record the information, instead of having an "excessive amount of paperwork" to be filled out.

Prop E prevents the Police Commission from "micromanaging" the chief of police and changes the rules to allow "officers to actively pursue suspects of felonies and violent misdemeanors, including retail theft, vehicle theft and auto burglaries, so long as the pursuit can be done safely," according to its supporters. 

Who opposes Prop E and why? 

Prop E is opposed by groups including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union.

"Prop E is about politics, not public safety," the ACLU wrote on its website. "It is a rash attempt to exploit voters’ frustrations with crime to distract from an unpopular mayor’s record and hand more power to the SFPD. Prop E would recklessly undermine hard-won reforms designed to hold police accountable and protect the public from abuse."

Both say the proposition is a "kitchen sink approach to public safety that capitalizes on residents’ fear of crime in an attempt to gut common-sense democratic oversight of the San Francisco Police Department."

Currently, if police want to acquire a new technology, they have to go through a procedure known as CCOPS—Community Control Over Police Surveillance. 

This means that police need to explain why they need a new piece of technology and provide a detailed use policy to the Board of Supervisors, who then vote on it. 

The process also allows for public comment so people can voice their support for, concerns about, or opposition to the new technology. 

According to both the EFF and the ACLU, surveillance technology is invasive and often simply doesn't work because of faulty algorithms.

And what technology would the police be using? 

"That's the thing—we don't know," the EFF wrote. 

Under Prop E, that process won't happen until the technology has been in use for a year. 

What is Prop F?

During the application process for cash assistance from the City, people suspected of substance use would be required to participate in a substance abuse assessment by a trained clinician. If they are deemed to have a problem, they will be offered a variety of treatments, including residential treatment, outpatient options and detox programs, as some examples.

If the applicant refuses the treatment, they will be immediately discontinued from receiving cash assistance.

Prop. F would apply to about 5,200 San Francisco residents who receive monthly cash payments through the County Adult Assistance Program.

The program provides up to $712 per month for housed residents and $109 for unhoused people. The city’s Human Services Agency estimates that about a third of the recipients have a substance-use disorder and would be required to engage in treatment. 

Who supports Prop F and why?

Mayor London Breed and Safer San Francisco. 

They say that the proposition would add another tool to San Francisco’s efforts to address the deadly drug use that is creating serious public safety hazards and fueling an overdose crisis that left more than 800 people dead in 2023. 

They call this a "treatment and accountability" proposition that allows San Francisco to mandate that adults with addiction problems to continue receiving cash assistance from the city as long as they also get treatment. 

Two people a day are dying of overdoses from fentanyl and other deadly drugs in San Francisco, supporters point out, and offers of drug treatment "without accountability are not enough." .

Under current state law, San Francisco lacks tools to compel people into treatment. 

""We must do more to get people into treatment and save lives," Safer San Francisco wrote on its website. 

Who opposes Prop F and why? 

HealthRight 360, the city’s largest addiction treatment provider, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and Roma Guy, co-founder of La Casa de las Madres, SF Women Against Rape, and The Women's Foundation of California, are among several opponents of Prop F.

"Unfortunately, Prop F takes exactly the wrong approach, which has failed over and over again," the foundation states on its website. "This proposition will harm some of our most vulnerable program participants and does nothing to increase the supply of treatment services in San Francisco. Prop F is a flawed measure that will cut vital assistance to the most vulnerable and increase homelessness in San Francisco."

According to Laura Thomas, the foundation's senior director, this plan will end up leaving more San Franciscans homeless. 

Thomas points to decades of research by public health experts that she said clearly shows that mandated or coerced treatment is ineffective and counterproductive.

Instead, she said that providing more support and financial assistance actually works better to encourage access to treatment and improve health outcomes, not removing support.